Archive for Beauty

Watch this video titled, Cold Dead Hands, written by Jennifer Lawson and Bo Dottley. Jennifer is talented and she has a great voice. I love that she is a lady rocking on her guitar singing about the Second Amendment, a subject near and dear to my heart! Get the word out about this song. You can watch it below on You Tube or you can buy it on iTunes. Support those who share our beliefs!

Cold Dead Hands

Simple man, simple ways, blue collar, American madeFear the Lord and love my familyYou better not tread on me cause in the name of LibertyYou know I’m gonna fight til the bitter end

Like a mighty oak I’m gonna stand my groundYou can bet your butt I’ll never lay these pistols down

Cause this fight ain’t just about freedom, it goes a lot deeper than thatIt’s about the blood our brothers shed so you can have a place to hang your hatAnd if you try and take em you’ll cross that line I’ve drawn in the sandYou can have my guns when you pry em from my cold dead hands.

Just a worn out Sweet 16, it’s loaded up with memoriesOne of these days I’m gonna pass it onHanded down with pride you see it’s my grand daddy’s legacyAin’t a man alive gonna take it away

If he were here today let me tell you sonHe’d walk through hell before you ever took his gunsCHORUS

Now I lay me down to sleep, 12 gauge by the door I keepIt’s there to protect my familyJust remember it’s our right to keep and bear so we can fightAgainst the thugs and government tyranny

And as long as Uncle Sam stands his ground, You can bet your butt we’ll never lay these pistols downREPEAT CHORUS

Natalie Foster is the creator of Girls Guide to Guns and more recently an NRA Commentator, she represents our community with flair, intelligence, class and a little sass. I saw the video below today, and love the message within, she is right – ladies all love their guns for their own reasons. We love our guns for most of the same reasons that men do, and that is OK! We use our guns for sport, for camaraderie, to build relationships, for hunting, and yes – for protection.

The media does seem to have a bias that assumes that most female gun owners only want their guns for self defense. That is one of the reasons I bought my first gun. BUT – I also bought my first gun because my very best male friend really enjoyed the sport, and I was interested in learning more and trying out some of the competitions he enjoyed. It opened up an entire world to me that, in spite of my military career, I had not expected to find. I also discovered that I LOVED everything about guns, tinkering with them, shooting all types, learning every detail I could – and I love that even if I live another 60 years, I will never learn it all. Firearms satisfy the geek in me, learning ballistics, various calibers, which type of firearm is better for a given purpose, how to make that firearm reach optimum performance, optics, and reloading. Firearms give me a goal to be more athletic, focusing on future tactical long range matches and the challenge therein.

Firearms give my daughter and I something fun that we both enjoy to do together. Firearms give me a topic that most of my family and many of my friends are interested in discussing, and since the topic is so broad – almost everyone can teach everyone else something new. Lastly, maybe most importantly, firearms give me security – the knowledge that I have a chance to protect my children, that we are not just sitting ducks, should our home be chosen by a criminal. All of this, and MORE, is why I love my guns. Ladies, why do you own a gun? How did you get started? Do you enjoy using your firearm? What is your favorite part about being a knowledgable gun owner?

In my generation, this fight will be won or lost by the way women perceive guns.

I have a teenage daughter, and for a number of reasons she never learned to use a firearm yet – until a couple months ago. When she was young, I was not ready to teach her – she didn’t grow up in a rural area. As she got older and as a firearm enthusiast began to take shape inside of me, she was not that interested. She has become a lovely young lady, and is more adult everyday, and quite interested now in learning and growing and becoming self-reliant. About six months ago she did tell me she wanted to learn, she was ready. I did get a .22lr Browning Buckmark pistol – the one I have been wanting so that I could teach her when she was ready. We know what happened next – the ammo buying frenzy that made acquiring .22lr next to impossible, no matter how much one was willing to pay. Lately, I have been finding it again – not as cheap as it had been, but good enough (and worth it) if it meant teaching my baby girl to shoot.

How did I teach her? Well, before we ever set foot in the range, over the last few months, she has helped me clean my XD45 and sat with me and asked me lots of questions. Also, as the political firestorm occurred in the media, we talked about the 2nd Amendment and what it means, along with the huge responsibility owning or possessing a firearm brings. We sat together and compared .22lr, 9mm, .45, .223 ammo and discussed the differences and how they were used and how each different caliber would react in it’s respective firearm. Sitting in the comfort of our home, I ensured the firearms were unloaded, showed her how to check if they were unloaded and discussed handling a firearm safely, This included a discussion on the rules at a gun range. I also used this quiet time to show her how to use her sights, find a good sight picture, and how to hold the gun properly. I knew she was ready to learn, because even though she is a teenager, and sometimes think she knows everything – she listened to every word, and soaked it in like a sponge.

Finally, we went to the range, we discussed safety again, and she read the range rules as posted at our range. Then, I had her watch while I shot a magazine full of .22lr (did I mention how much fun this gun is?) Once I was finished, and she knew what to expect, how loud it would be, and how little it recoils, I had her step up to the bench. She took a moment to ensure her grip was proper, and then I watched her to ensure everything was safe and I told her to go ahead and pull the trigger. That girl took to shooting like a fish to water!

The head was her first magazine at 15 yards and the chest was her second at 20 yards.

Here is a video of the second magazine full of ammo she went though. She is going to be a force to be reckoned with when she is old – watch out boys!

A very talented man from Charleston, West Virginia has used his considerable skills to craft an old fashioned muzzle loaded pistol completely from wood. This includes the barrel, trigger, springs – every tiny detail made from wood. Granted, it cannot be actually fired, but it can be cocked. Arlie Hubbard created this beautiful piece of art. Read about all the details here in the West Virginia Gazette.

To follow the entire series on my custom rifle build, click here. (The most recent will at the top of the page.)

I need your opinion! I am having a disagreement with my rifle mentor about something I actually know about – coordinating colors. I have decided to get a McMillan Stock, likely the A3, but before I can order it, I need to choose the finish and colors for the stock. Even if you do not know ANYTHING about a rifle, you can help me with this one. McMillan uses a process where they take three colors of resin (in percentages specified by the customer) and swirl it. The effect looks somewhat like a marble pattern, and is pretty. They have 27 colors to choose from – so this is one area where you really get to make it “personal”.

The photo above is from the McMillan website with some examples of their most popular color combinations so you can get an idea of what the finished product looks like. They make it very clear, no stock will look the same when it is finished, even if a customer orders two stocks, with the same percentages of the same colors, and the same person at McMillan makes them at the same time — they will look different (due to the swirling).

“Performance and accuracy of a high powered tactical rifle are the most important things, but a lady needs a stock that is beautiful as well as accurate!”

In the top picture you will see four color combinations. One is the combination I want, and one is the combination my mentor thinks I should get. The other two are just ideas. I am not going to tell you which is which. Please comment below and tell me which of the four combination colors is your favorite (and if you feel like it, tell me why – I would love to know!)

Performance and accuracy of a high powered tactical rifle are the most important things, but a lady needs a stock that is beautiful as well as accurate!

Fate of Destinee posted a video today that blew me away. She discussed what it is like sometimes at the range or gun stores when you are a woman. I discussed this on the Heels and Handguns FB page a week or so ago. Do not get me wrong on this one – I have dealt with so many good people and am learning from the nicest men I know. It is just interesting how, even during this female renissance, where women are hungry for knowledge and doors are opening everywhere, that so many pre-existing assumptions are still made. Take a few minutes and watch her video and let me know what you think.

“Ladies started out doing Tupperware parties, but all that did was keep us stuck in the kitchen. Now you get a CHL (concealed handgun licensed) instructor and have a pistol party,” said Amy Graves of Bond Arms. The gun industry is having a banner year – due very much to women. Read more about some of the fantastic women doing more than their part to empower women and welcome them to the world of gun ownership in this article.

One of my friends, Spencer, on the Heels and Handguns Facebook page pointed me to this video, and it is amazing. I just had to share it. As the cannon in her hands goes off for the first time, Destinee declared, “Hot Damn!” My thoughts exactly.

Inquiring minds want to know: Will a handgun make a man look taller? I can tell you, the answer is YES! In an actual scientific study, it has been concluded that a handgun does make a man look taller, more muscular, and overall larger in body size. (Like any of us needed one more reason to go get a gun!)

In one part of the study, participants (panel A) rated the height and size of men holding a 45 caliber handgun, a drill, a small handsaw, and a caulking gun. Another group of participants (panel B) rated the height, size, and muscularity of men holding a .357 caliber handgun, a drill, a large handsaw, and a caulking gun. A third group of participants (panel C) rated the height, size, and muscularity of men holding a kitchen knife, a paintbrush, and a toy squirt gun. In this study, the photographs presented to participants in color, were resized so that the objective dimensions of each hand displayed on the participant’s computer screen remained constant across all images.

The results did show that the men holding the handgun were estimated to be taller than the men holding the drill, the small handsaw, and the caulking gun. There could be deeper psychology at work here. When a man is taller in our society, they are perceived to be more successful, and generally have an easier time ascending up the career ladder. Does this type of bias have anything to do with this study? Looking at people holding all these items, would the power of the gun verses the power of a home improvement tool lead you toward thinking the one with the gun was taller, because in a fight they would likely be victorious?

Knowing that an individual possesses a potentially lethal object, be it a handgun or a kitchen knife, led the U.S. participants to generally conceptualize the target individual as taller and larger in overall body size and muscularity.

Ok, the next question is for the ladies: Do you think that high heels AND a hand gun will make a lady look taller? (I can tell you the answer to THIS question is yes! We do not need a study on that one.)

This study was conducted by Daniel M. T. Fessler, Colin Holbrook, and Jeffrey K. Snyder for the Department of Anthropology and Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California in Los Angeles, CA see the entire report and their findings here.

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